Michigan

Western Michigan University volleyball head coach Colleen Munson, middle, watches intently as her team goes through a practice last season. Munson agreed to a contract extension with WMU through 2019.
(Paul Morgan | For MLive.com)

KALAMAZOO, MI -- Western Michigan University announced Thursday a contract extension with volleyball coach Colleen Munson, keeping her at the school through 2019.

Munson has led the Broncos to a 198-98 record in nine seasons, a 2008 Mid-American Conference regular season championship, NCAA Tournament berths in 2008 and 2011, including a trip to the Sweet 16 in '11, and has maintained a program that continues to excel both in competition and in academics.

"I am extremely honored to be the head coach here at Western Michigan," Munson said in a press release. "My family and I have made our home here in Kalamazoo for the last nine years and we look forward to many more years to come. I would like to thank Dr. John Dunn, Kathy Beauregard, and the rest of the administration for having the belief that my staff and I are the ones to carry the program to its highest point."

Munson's adjusted annual compensation includes a base salary of $100,000, a figure that will make her the second-highest paid coach in the MAC. The contract also includes incentives based on division, conference, and NCAA Tournament wins, as well as attendance and team academic achievement.

"The Western Michigan volleyball program has had enormous success under coach Munson, and we are so very proud and excited to announce that she will continue to lead our Broncos into the future with this extension," WMU Athletic Director Kathy Beauregard said in the release. "Since she became head coach in 2005, coach Munson has made us one of the elite programs in the Mid-American Conference and has developed our student-athletes into performers on the court and in the classroom. We are confident that she will continue to grow our program as we strive for conference championships and a place on the national stage."

Munson led the Broncos to a program record eight consecutive 20-win seasons from 2005-12 and to a 17-14 overall record in 2013, and has produced some of the best players in both program and MAC history.

Under Munson's tutelage, the Broncos have had 29 players earn All-MAC status; four players have won MAC Freshman of the Year, including Ave Stout in 2013; three players have earned MAC Defensive Player of the Year; and the Broncos have produced four of the last six MAC Setters of the Year.

The Broncos’ success on the court has been matched by their success in the classroom. Western Michigan has earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award in 2005-06, 2008-09 and 2009-10 for having a team grade-point average of 3.30 or higher. Munson’s teams have also been recognized by the NCAA for ranking in the top-10 percent of all volleyball programs in Academic Progress Rate (APR) in 2007 and 2008. Katie Eberling and Allyson Doyle combined for five CoSIDA Academic All-District awards from 2007-10, and Doyle became the first CoSIDA Academic All-American for the program since Julie Young in 1991.

Since Munson took the head coaching reins in 2005, the Broncos have placed 19 student-athletes on the Academic All-MAC team, including three in 2013, after having just one such player from 1998-2004.